


past the trees over the old hedge

by emptyalien



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dadza, Enderman! Ranboo, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Found Family, Humans Suck, Hybrid AU, Interconnected oneshots, Kinda, Lowercase, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, Other, Past Violence, Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ram Hybrid Toby Smith | Tubbo, blaze! Tommy, ender dragon! philza, ghast! Wilbur, minecraft au, no beta we die like tommy in the pit, piglin! Tenchoblade, sbi, sleepybois inc - Freeform, there is arson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27393337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptyalien/pseuds/emptyalien
Summary: Tommy gets tired of sleeping on cold cobble, so he runs away and accidentally gets adopted.
Relationships: Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 20
Kudos: 724





	1. It’s much cooler on the other side

**Author's Note:**

> It truly sucks sleeping outside

the night wasn't as cold as usual. the cobble was surprisingly warm too, at least to tommy. 

he had been thrown out yet again. by his mother, for once again he couldn't control his hybrid tendencies and was thrown out. it was never his fault he become a blaze.

and for once, tommy didn't object because tonight he had a plan. he wasn't going to sulk around until morning when his mother let him back in. no way. he was going to look over the hedge of the village and leave. he was leaving.

his mother cared about him, he knew that. but she didn't care for his hybrid side which he had enough of. so if she wasn't going to accept all of him, he wasn't going to accept her. the village didn't even care about him anyway. they had stopped carrying and helping him when he was thrown out. it didn't matter if the villager feared or hated him, because now he had come to hating them all equally. he could do just fine in his own. or so he had convinced himself. 

that did not stop his frustrated tears thought, as he walked out of the outskirts of the village he had to now call his old home. the cobble turning into a dirt path filled with stories of those who have traveled to the edge of the village, of children who have not come back. 

he comes up to the the hedge. once when he was little it seemed a lot taller and menacing. but as he grew, the hedge only broke down and it was unkept now blooming with chrysanthemums. reminding him of when he'd run around with the other kids stomping on flowers. and in fact in the summer, you could see fire flies bombard the trees on the other side if you squinted hard enough. he could always see them when he was left outside.

tommy had enough of studying the area, and being sentimental. and started for looking for ways to get over it, he had just decided to go through it. if he got stuck he'd just set the bush a blaze. not a favorable option but it was one nonetheless.

he took one last look at the village, and gave it one last wave. he glances the worn stone path. and the roofs that have stayed the same, some parts better off that others. the old well that he had sat on so many times before. the bell that he had heard only once in his life. he's hoping everything stays intact in case he ever decides to come back. he doesn't know if he could handle coming back to his childhood villages in ashes. 

he shivered at the thought, before turning back to the biggest decision in his life. He takes it head on of course, and charges through the hedge. 

leaves tickle him all over as branches only catch on his hair, and soon enough he arrives in the other side with a thump.he lands in a pile of flowers, sending a few petals up gracefully floating for seconds, before landing in his hair and back onto the ground.

he takes a second to sit up, brushing away all of the debris and trying to get rid of the itching feeling he had. it irritated him more than it should. once that was all done, he took his first look out into his 'new life' it was quite dramatic to say that, but he didn't care. 

in front of him was the forest which was rumored to have stolen kids, and trees would eat them. but even in the dead of night it looked so beautiful to tommy. He had never looked at anything like this before. and by the time he took everything in, he had already let a few tears slip. 

he got over it, or tired to pretend he wasn't crying. he brushed himself off once more, and gathered his things and carefully stepped out of the flowers. he stared straight ahead. he had no idea where he was going, only that he'd have a fun time going? and it was quite the adrenaline rush knowing he had just left his entire life behind on a whim. 

the thought of death wasn't present in his mind either, just he was excited for a new chapter, an adventure if you will. 

his own little adventure.


	2. a new stepping stone in the river

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whoops i just got attached to strange men who kidnaped me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for any mistakes

tommy had been walking for 2 days now.

and he'd easily say he's gotten the best sleep in his life outside. in fact he was able to get even more food from some berries, he didn't know they were poisonous or not. but he hadn't died yet so he'd continue to eat them whenever he was hungry.

he almost did set a tree on fire when a frog scared him.

but other than that- he was perfectly fine, everything had gone so well. it had been so much better. it furthered his belief that he didn't need anyone. (and fueled his ego) 

he was in a clearing, on his back looking at the semi-tall grass as it swayed around his ankles. he decided to lay down on his back and watch the stars, something he did often. it was one the few things that he could too when sleeping outside.

he had memorized a few of the star patterns, but for the most part tonight he simply was just watching the moons glow. he grew quite tired so he cuddled up with his bag and let out a content sigh. filled with pride, he was quite proud of himself. he closed his eyes and listened to the grass.

but he doesn't remember grass making small crunching noises.

he quickly sat up and looked all around the clearing. and in the moon light he saw two, no three silhouettes emerge from the trees. in a triangle formation. his heart had dropped, before switching to adrenaline mode. and they were only coming towards him faster as his brain processed it all. he has no idea on how he heard them, but they were there. and his adrenaline had kicked in. he stared at them or it trying to see what exactly had rudely woken him up.

whoever it was, was about to face a royally pissed tommy. but they seemed one step ahead, they threw a small blade that had somehow been able to reach tommy, it must had been thrown with the strength of hundred men. or of something that is not quite human.

luckily, tommy had seen it shine and blare in the moonlight. so he hopped out the way, picking his bag and slinging it on his back in the process.

"who the hell is there!?" he yelled out into the night, directed at the silhouettes. he had made his voice deeper, and made sure to sound more menacing. he could not be afraid now.

the figures had now moved close enough to be identified as at least humans from tommy's prospective. although each one of the had a hood. he took note that only one of them were taller than he was. his mistake was thinking the shorter two wouldn't, or be able to beat him.

because the first to charge was the one in the father right, they was extremely quick too. almost closing the few feet gap between tommy. they had hooves that clumped through the grass. the one in questions hood fell of due to the speed they were going out, long braiding pink hair flying out as well. they had a pig, or piglin mask. tommy didn't even noticed how they were pulling out a weapon of some sort.

tommy was still taken back, and didn't even get to move as his ankles were tied together with a small nun-chuck like trap thrown from the one charging him. he didn't lose his balance right away like most would, instead acting on reflex his hand setting a blaze, and the tall grass with it. the attacker instantly stopped running and jumped back to avoid the fire as it spread.

tommy thought it looked cool, but he shouldn't be distracted. so with the upper ground he had he burned away the trap at his ankles. as the grass around his feet were now only ashes as smaller sparks were dying out. once he was free he aimed a direct blast at the other two figures, maybe they'd run away.

"take that you bastards!" he yelled as soon as the blast was fired, the blast also setting the grass it flew above on fire. what he didn't think would happen is that they'd easily avoid it. by jumping out of the way, and throwing a glass bottle of water or magic that shattered as soon as it touched the flame. but as cool as it looked, he was easily distracted by it once again. he didnt notice the pink haired one had already pulled out two more traps. soon they sent them both his way, first hitting his ankles again. and then catching his wrists together. he fell to the burned grass with a thump.

now as brave as he may been at the beginning of this fight, now he genuine thought he was going to get killed. there was no fire blasting his way out this, or he'd risk injuring himself which looked like the only opinion. so he struggled and struggled as he heard all three of their footsteps at a painfully slow pace walk over to him. all he could do was look at the sky and writhe around on the once comfortable grass.

once all three were around them, they began to speak in hushed whispers. tommy was too busy trying to escape, but when the words 'child' came up, he instantly shot up, sitting up now looking at all of them glaring. he straighten his posture.

"i'm not a child." he counited to glare at them, specifically the one with pink hair who had a pig mask cover their eyes. tommy didn't notice it before, but he got a closer look and they also seemed to have a scar hidden behind their mask.

the tallest one of them startled to giggle, tommy snapped his neck to look at them. they had covered their mouth with their hand. trying hard not to laugh. they seemed to laugh at whatever tommy did. it only made him more frustrated. (although, deep down he was pretty scared.) he looked back at the pink haired one.

"lady pig mask, can you let me out of these bloody traps you set me in?" he said, waving his tied up hands closer to them.

the other two looked at him. the pig mask cracked a smile. "i'm not a girl, names technoblade kiddo." he had said in a monotonous voice, tommy's eyes widened as the other two hooded figures started to laugh. tommy mumbled a sorry. before his face went back to pouting glare.

"whatever, i'm great with women anyway." he lied, pulling his legs into his chest. tommy hadn't even spoken to girl his age yet. but he would never admit that. they roared with laughter at that, even the pig one gave a dry heave of a laugh. he just wanted these people to let him go. his face counited to pout.

the shortest out of the bunch finally stopped laughing, and crouched to tommy's eye level. tommy first saw their bright blue eyes. they removed the hoodie, and the man looked much older than the pig. messy blonde locks fell to the side and his green and white bucket hat looked a lot darker compared to his hair. he smiled with his eyes closed.

"hello, i'm philza."

tommy studied him for a second. he appeared completely harmless. but judging by the magic thrown, he certainly isn't. tommy took a second, before glancing at the other two. then he rolled his eyes. tommy was now tired, and getting a tad cranky. might as well as introduced yourself to your kidnappers.

"i'm tommy." he said popping his neck.

"well tommy, you're a bit far from home don't ya think?" phil said, softer than before seeing as the boy got a bit hostile.

"yeah, that was the whole point." he paused. "i'm an adventurer now." he said proudly.

phil gave a looked of surprise, but it morphed into pity.

"yeah but it looks like it's past your bed time," the tallest one said, finally pulling off his hoodie to reveal a red beanie and curly brown hair sticking out. his face looked almost ghostly around the eyes.

tommy frowned, and then looked at the man. "i don't have no bedtime bitch."

"well i have a name, it's wilbur. dirty crime boy." phil gave him a look of disappoint.

tommy huffed. "still a bitch boy."

once again, the ghastly guy laughed. and techno gave small chuckle. phil looked fed up, he sighed.

"look kid, if your an adventure out here alone you'll die. you should just go back home mate." he said blankly. 

tommy looked back at him, in fear and then he quickly covered it up with a fake glare towards the man.

"i ain't going home for shit. i'm adventure." tommy stated once again.

phil looked at the other two, and stood up. he pulled them to his side. and turned them around in a huddle.

phil had two options. either let the kid die or take him along with them.

"listen i know this might be annoyance for you two but we need to get this kid somewhere safe." phil whispered calmly. maybe it was just his caring nature, or the deep rooted need to protect the younger ones because he was the leader of their rag-tag group of halflings. him being just like a mother ender dragon, wings and all.

but that was story for later.

"and no, we aren't letting him die out here. i just want you two to be nice to him while he travels with us." phil said before the other two could interrupt.

"but he doesn't even want to go with us." techno said in monotony, taking off his pig mask.

"we could just drop him off at the nearest village. since he doesn't want to go home." wilbur interjected.

phil looked at techno, who still looked very distraught.

"techno, come on. he's got the same look you did when I found you." phil said, and it was true. their eyes are both filled with ambitious, but before that there is a lot of uncertainty and fear in tommy's eyes. their a lapis blue while techno's are a ruby red.

techno looked back at tommy, before turning back with the smallest bit of softness in his eyes. of course phil was the only one who saw it, but it meant he had gotten through to techno.

"so we're going to drop him off in the next village okay?" phil said to confirm the other two nodded. they turned back to the boy.

he was of course still tied up but look distracted, he was looking out in the field.

phil cleared his throat and grabbed tommy's attention.   
"so we decided to let you travel with us to till the next village."

tommy huffed. "as if i'd want to travel with you."

techno lowered his mask once again. "we'll eat you if you don't come with us."

that scared tommy enough, so eventually they untied him and they all began to follow wilbur, the one with the map.

—————————  
the first day was sort of rough, tommy didn't really want to corporate.

but the morning after, they all woke up in the woods in their makeshift camp. tommy had passed out after an hour so they decided to create one.

tommy was the first one up too, his first thought was actually to run away. but when he glanced and phil again he decided against it. so what he did instead was look through techno's things whilst having a evil grin on his face. he kept all his knives in his red royal coat surprisingly.

alas, phil caught him in the act but surprisingly techno let him keep a knife saying, "the kids crafty, stealing whilst a person is asleep optimal." phil laughed it off as tommy thought he was gonna die then and there. but his chest swelled with pride the the rest of the morning.

now it was mid day and they were wondering through a field with a river up ahead. with tommy and wilbur bickering in the background.

they were in a line of phil, techno, wilbur, then tommy.

"i am not child, see look i'm a huge man." tommy said puffing his chest. wilbur only laughed at him.

"whatever you say tommy." wilbur hummed.

phil stopped by the river and crouched down. they all stopped.

"what's he doing?" tommy whispered.

wilbur rolled his eyes. "checking for river gods or for any drowns that could be near by." he explained.

tommy continued to watch, until phil stood up and whispered an 'all clear' as he started walking across the river stones.

"careful they are slippery." techno looked at tommy specifically, in which tommy huffed back at him. wilbur giggled at tommy's expense.

though as soon as he got to his first stone, he got tired of waiting for wilbur to move. and he was struck with the best idea ever. his face twisted into a evil grin. he moved closer to wilbur.

"hey wilbur the stones are slippery." tommy said as he gave wilbur a light push, and the stones were in fact very slippery, because wilbur fell into a shallow end of the river. the first thing tommy did was laugh cruelly, and then glanced at techno who seemed to be amused and soon began to laugh a bit as well. wilbur however, was not laughing.

"you dumb child! i could drown!" wilbur said dramatically splashing the water at tommy. phil had started to laugh too. wilbur was fed up, he scooted closer and dragged tommy into the river with him. techno and phil went silent, just for a second before fill out cackling at them. wilbur wanted to stay mad, but he couldn't when he saw phil and techno laugh along at him and tommy.

"not fair!" tommy said, only partly upset. he stood up with a smile on his face. and extended a small hand to wilbur. wilbur rolled his eyes before going up to grab it. but at the last second tommy moved his hand. "too slow!~" he sang. wilbur pulled him back down into the water, "too slow." he repeated back.

phil was struggling to breathe at this point. techno had started to calm down, still giving an amused look at the too.

——————-

finally after crawling out of the river, and phil drying them off with magic they were once again on their marry way.

in silence they walked in a forest with the tallest trees tommy had ever seen, phil now leading the way. he took the soaked map from wilbur after drying them off with magic.

tommy skipped after techno who was dragging his sword across trees in a line, dulling it out for some reason.

tommy watched, and noticed techno didn't have as much stuff on his as the other too. and having a big mouth he wanted to know why.

"hey, technoblade?"

"hullo."

"why don't you carry a bunch of shit like phil?" tommy said propping his hands on the back of his hands.

"never been one for material things, most of the times they're too easy to burn." techno said swinging his sword.

"actually, he makes us carry his stuff 'cus he says he needs less weight to fight better. something 'bout numbers." wilbur said waving his hand after interjecting.

tommy held in a snort at techno's offended look.

"wilbs, sleep with one eye open."  
techno said, tommy was unsure if he was joking or not.

"okay your highness." wilbur turned around this time, giving a thumbs up.

they made eye contact as wilbur looked past techno to tommy. so tommy gave a thumbs up back, and repressed a small laugh.

wilbur giggled, techno seemed to smile under his mask at that.

the sun had started to set, orange and yellow lights piercing through the trees. at one point they reflected on technos sword, shining in tommy's eyes.

but soon they continued on in silence. and tommy now didn't mind silence now that he had people to share it with. and once and in while break it.

———————

the next night, they had settled at the edge of the same forest.

tommy was watching the stars as the others laughed around the fire, which he pretended he didn't care.

but he really did, because he had accidentally gotten maybe too attached these strangers the past hours. maybe because these were really the only other bond he had experience besides his mother.

as much as he wanted to ignore the sadness that came over him when he knew they'd eventually leave him, he really couldn't. he also thinks this is hypocritical because he wanted to be a lone adventure in the first place. damn phil and his convincing ways.   
he was trying really hard to ignore the self deprecating thoughts that came through.

he closed his eyes and looked at them, around in the camp fire. happy. he wanted to be like that too, envy slinked in the back of his mind. he had never had experience that kind of easy. he had a chance to right now but conflicting feelings were holding him captive. it's not something new to him, loving one part of a person while hating the other was something he knew all to well.

he messed up his hair, comparing it to his brain. he mumbled an audible 'fuck it.' if he was gonna leave these people, he was gonna make the most of it. being left and leaving are different things. he left his home, but this time he'd be left behind.

he stood up and sat between wilbur and techno by the campfire. no one objected and the three had just resumed their conversation.

"and so i straight up ate the bug he gave me." wilbur said confidently, phil gagged. techno laughed. tommy made a noise of distaste.

"i bet tommy's eaten a bug before." wilbur said nudging him with his elbow.

tommy rolled his eyes. "i'm a big man, so bugs are just naturally scared of me. while phil over here probably has creepy crawlers all over him." tommy joked.

phil shuttered, and techno gave a snort. wilbur looked amused, and tommy laughed a bit to loudly at his own joke.

"reminds of the time that phil did almost eat a bug, i confused it for a berry." techno shrugged.

"you knew it was bug!" phil said chuckling. he pulled of his black cloak, letting out his almost glowing purple wings. they matched the description of the fabled ender dragon. tommy tried not to stare.

"i cannot confirm nor deny." techno crossed his arms.

"i can confirm." wilbur giggling under his hand. techno shot him a glare.

"ouch, sold out by wilbs." tommy added.

"who gave you nickname privileges?" techno said, tommy froze for a second.

he looked at techno, he couldn't tell if it was joke and he assumed not. but tommy's eyes were filled with a bit genuine fear for a second.

wilbur started to uncontrollably giggle. "toms, you look like you're about to piss yourself."

phil wheezed a bit at that, taking off his hat. and techno gave a pig like snort.

tommy let a breath he didn't know he was holding. tommy smiled brightly at his own nickname, toms. even though he thought he had fucked up with the whole nickname thing.

"the blade is simply too intimating i tell ya." tommy said, trying to play it off.

"i agree with that statement." techno said shrugging off his royal gown.

as the the others slowly got tired, tommy took the embers and they all went to bed a little bit fonder of each other.

\--------------

they approached the village in the afternoon. the sky had turned a light gray, rain was threating to wash out of the clouds.

similar to tommy's mood, he had a lump in his throat ever since they could see the village in the distance. he knew it was coming, but he was trying to tell himself he was just being a stubborn child. that he needed to man up and get over it. but it still hurt.

but tommy didn't notice the others seem to be regretting their decision as well. It was most notable on wilbur due to his ghast eyes glowing a bit more vibrantly, and his face sunken.

techno tried to hide his grief but simply staring at the ground. he didn't want to show any attachment to the kid he wanted to leave for the wolves. nor did he want to be called a hypocrite by phil.

speaking of phil, he wore a somber expression while he glanced ahead at the center of town. guilt he could read his sons expressions. they didn't tommy to leave, neither did he. but he's the one who agreed to drop him off. 

tommy was fire they all didn't want to let go, nor let it burn out. or leave it like a candle running it's course.

as soon as they stepped foot on the path, towards the center of the town. he followed behind the others. His body shivered in the cold or he was afraid. 

But the town looked beautiful, it was the first time tommy had seen one. the lights were on because the sun was not shining. 

they headed further into the village as the sun kept settling and the clouds swept the horizon. tommy became more and more worried. deep down he hoped they wouldn't send him to orphanage. 

he tried to ignore the present and replayed the past few days events. he smiled to himself, as they rounded another stone corner. he glanced back at the well, it reminded him of the river mishap.

they continued to walk down the street, it had begin to sprinkle. some of the torches flickered and flinched at the rain. 

wilbur pulled his beanie over his head, while techno threw on his cloak that they found tommy in. phil adjusted his hat and started to speed walk

At the end of the street, there was a shop. and right across of it was orphanage. it was small, with a withered sigh marking the building. as soon as tommy got close enough to read it his heart dropped. 

and it seemed the mood worsened between all four of them. it was melancholy like feeling that washed over all of them as the neared the door. the rain had started to worsen. the sky seemed to be making fun of them. 

phil stopped by the door, the orange light shining on his face when he turned around to face his companions. (his sons really.) 

techno and wilbur soon went by his side, and looked at tommy. their faces of regret more apparent in the light of the window. 

phil cleared his throat, unsure of what to really say. all of them had been unable to say anything really.

tommy shivered once more, it had only gotten colder due to the rain. his mind was going to fast, his mouth couldn't catch up by making a remark or even be rude. 

he really was gonna have to leave them. he finally looked phil in the eyes after what seemed an hour. 

phils eyes were still the same blue hues when they met, his face upset now though. they seemed to be trapped in a staring contest. 

phil read tommys eyes pleading him not to leave. and phil wanted to listen to say something, anything. but he hadn't even asked the other two. although he knew deep down they didn't wanna let go of tommy either. he was there new spark, something that they all lost a long time ago. 

the door opened to the orphanage as a old lady peaked out, the three men turned around. 

"is there a problem?" she said sweetly.

tommy looked past phils shoulder at her. the lump in his throat was trying so desperately to escape, and his eyes were burning. not with fire but with tears he was holding back. he had accepted the sour goodbye, but he still wanted to stay. he crossed his arms, and pinched into his skin because his short sleeves weren't covering his upper arms. and it was getting really cold. he was losing the only warmth he had.

they were going to leave him.

"apologies, there isn't a problem." 

"alright, you boys have a nice night." the old lady shut the door.

tommy blinked his eyes twice. two tears fell, and his arms slumped to his side. 

techno and phil looked at wilbur who had a smile, it almost looked sly, but if you knew him it was obviously a shy one. 

it was silent at first, tommy couldn't see the glances that the three were sending. almost talking through brain waves, but they were just silently thanking willbur for saying something they couldn't. 

they all turned back to tommy, who had started to cry. it surprised techno the most. 

"sorry mate, but we decided you're stuck with us." phil said and techno only nodded along. wilbur still had a shy smile, probably because he was embarrassed.

tommy wiped his eyes and too a breath in collecting himself. 

'thank you.' tommy said in a voice crack, he looked at all three at them. 

techno rolled his eyes, and shrugged off his robe, and held it like towel. it looked like he wanted a hug. 

tommy smiled, and jumped in his arms. it didn't catch techno off guard so he easily caught him. despite techno hating psychical contact in general, he'll let it slide just right now.

wilbur giggles before pulling phil to joined too. tommy felt warm again.

they all stood under the orphanage booth from the rain, until they were told to scatter. 

so they made their way out in the rain, now own a little adventure together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR AN UPDATE
> 
> i had like a writing block?? i dunno i just wasnt felling it, and it was probably because i caught covid lol
> 
> and im not very happy with some of this chapter, and i still need to fix a few things but i wanted to get this out as soon as possible so here :) 
> 
> anyway have a good day/ night


	3. a dance of swords and fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tommy is doing a great job at fitting in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys....  
> okay listen i had sudden motivation to write more of this but i dunno if i wanna finish it all at the moment- so i am gonna keep it on hiatus for now
> 
> there might be more chapters soon it just depends on how i feel y’know?
> 
> anyway it is late and i refuse to beta read  
> enjoy<3

techno gripped his sword, as he eyed and served the room around him. it was night, almost daybreak.

they were in a tavern room, tommy wouldn't stop pacing back in forth between the two beds. he was starting to leave burn marks in the wood, but he had yet to set anything ablaze. 

wilbur was in the corner having his own thoughts, panicked ones at that. 

see, tommy had accidentally knocked out some sort of gang member. and his defense was," he was givin' him a weird look that scared me." 

they had tied him in a chair in between the beds, and they were debating turning him in for a reward or letting him go. well, only wilbur was debating that, he was afraid phil would lose it if he found out tommy technically kidnapped someone. under his watch. techno just wanted to get some money out of this ordeal. 

"tommy why'd you have to knock him out! he's got a bloody lump on his head now." wilbur said pushing himself off the wall to glare daggers at tommy. 

tommy stopped pacing abruptly and glared back. "it was self-defense." 

"the guards sure as hell won't believe that. tommy you don't have a scratch on you." wilburs voice grew hoarse, it usually happened when he was upset.

"y'know, we could beat up tommy so it looks like it was." techno said, half-joking. although he noticed wilbur didn't seem to take it that way.

tommy sputtered. "not fair, they'll believe me, i'm a child." 

"yes tommy, and you're also a halfing. which in case you have forgotten we kind of suck." wilbur walked closer to tommy, his eyes flicked back in forth from rhinestones, to mud brown.

"well aren't you the one who's also worried about phil coming back." tommy was trying to save himself here. "he'll start with the whole, "control your anger." lecture!" the more he spoke the more wilbur seemed annoyed. 

"because you're the reason we're in this predicament. i just hope phil doesn't blame me, i was supposed to be watching ya." wilbur looked out the window quickly, before looking back at tommy. 

"it was an accident! i'll admit i was scared and acting dumb as shit. a simple mistake!" tommy finally projected his voice like usual, but it wasn't aggressive this time. more of a plea.

"yeah it was a mistake, and you know what else is? letting you come with us." wilbur had started that sentence off strong, and  
ended it in a mutter. 

techno frowned under his mask. what the fuck wilbur. 

techno watched tommy's eyes flicker from annoyed and worried to complete shock or despair. he couldn't tell, he hasn't been around tommy enough.

wilbur bit his lip and looked at the man sound asleep in the chair. and back at tommy. 

" 'm sorry, i didn't mean that." wilbur whispered. 

tommy's face turned from hurt to frustration. "you did. it's fine. i'm just the dumb child." his eyes looked glassy.

as much as techno loved chaos and agony, he didn't like it when it involved his friends. or family. the blood god has standards. 

techno placed down his sword and walked over to the two. never one who was good with words, he took off his mask and put it on tommy. he knew the kid didn't like to seem weak. 

time to put his observant skills to the test again.

he stared straight at wilbur. "you're the second oldest. and phil expects all of us to do what is right. we're all on the same level whether a child or not. and i wouldn't be surprised if you still got in trouble too." wilbur didn't meet techno's eyes.

"furthermore, it doesn't matter if the guards don't believe us. we can easily blow this town." techno finished and stared at wilbur. "and maybe you should actually watch him next time." techno finished strong, he thinks that was an okay job.

wilbur sighed. "apologies." 

"don't say sorry to me, tommy's the one ya were bein' an ass too." techno said simply, taking back his mask and ruffling tommy's hair. tommy seemed to look better already. techno knew all he needed was a little validation. it made the kid's ego soar.

wilbur looked at tommy, before shrugging off his coat. and draping it over tommy. "i'm really sorry toms." wilbur looked at him, as sincere as possible. but you could tell he was genuine just by the eye glow. they were always a dead giveaway. 

tommy still had a pout, and avoided wilbur's eyes. "apology not accepted." tommy huffed out. finally looking back at wilbur he sighed. "you're an ass." 

wilbur looked at techno, before nodding with a smile. "whatever you say toms." 

techno glanced at the guy in the chair before coughing to draw the two's attention from their staring contest. 

"we still gotta take care of this guy." techno motioned to the stranger knocked out cold in the chair. 

"right, thank you techno." wilbur held his hand on his chin as he did when thinking. 

techno hummed. "maybe we should just wait for phil. i don't want to kill unnecessarily"  
tommy flinched at the word of kill, which didn't go unnoticed by techno. 

"i guess we can. i'm sure he'll forgive us as long as we're not hurt." wilbur said, wearing his thinking expression. techno nodded.

just as silence fell over them, tommy heard boots walking along the hall. he turned around as the steps got closer. 

soon all three brothers were looking at the door as phil walked in with a smile on his face. 

"hey, big-p....uh. i may have had a lapse of judgment." tommy said. phil looked puzzled, before finally looking at the knocked out man in the chair tied up.

his face turned to worry as phil shut the door behind him. "oh my prime." he gave a nervous chuckle.

phil looked between the two eldest.

wilbur pulled his beanie over his eyes. and techno shrugged.

phil sighed. "well what happened?"

tommy took a huge breath before explaining everything in one go. 

phil's look of bewilderment almost made techno laugh. but when it turned into his look of disappointment look as he stared at wilbur, techno knew not to laugh. 

"wilbur, i though i told you to watch him," phil said, closing the door behind it. locking it. 

wilbur waved his hands around. "well, yeah you did but- i just got tired ok?" 

"wilbur probably would have punched 'em too with the look this guy was giving me," tommy added in his defense.

phil looked between the two. "i see...well any ideas?" he asks walking over to the stranger. 

"we could just dump him outside and run, i mean since you came back with our supplies right?" wilbur says, he had been thinking this over. 

techno nodded with him. "sounds like a plan, we should hurry though. it's almost daybreak." 

phil nodded and begun to silently untie the ropes. 

"the sleepy boys strike again, taking down all the men." 

"tommy we aren't called that. now help me untie him." 

* * *

arrows burned through the sky, as they run into the rising sun.

turns out, the stranger wasn't too heavy of a sleeper. 

and now they were being chased by a small group of six or five, tommy wasn't counting. 

luckily they were probably a good distance in the direction phil wanted to go, still running from the men though. 

branches got in tommy's way as he leaped over roots and uneven dirt. 

he was hot on wilbur's tail, but the guys weren't catching up or slowing down. 

that was a problem, as much as tommy wanted to set them all a blaze he'd burn them all to bits. 

and wilbur's heavy coat was not helping his case. 

"phil! these nerds are persistent we might just have to use force!" techno shouted from the front. 

"you aren't enjoying this workout techno?!" wilbur shouted leaf crunch after leaf crunch. 

phil laughed. "we should get out of the forest first, we have a flammable child." phil called out the loudest. "i see a clearing!"

"and hey! don't call me that or i will set this forest on fire. as hot as the ladies!" tommy yelled back at them, wilbur was laughing while losing his breath. 

they all stumbled into a clearing, most of it was dead dirt so tommy didn't have to worry about getting too much grass on fire. maybe he'd set techno's braid on fire instead.

they all ran to the middle tommy quickly shrugging off wilbur's cloak and tossing it right back into his face.

there were about six of the gang members after them, one had a bow. all the others had some sort of sharp weapon. tommy thought he could probably take them. 

techno was first to attack though, tossing out the same traps he did at tommy when they found him.

tommy watched all three of them gather their wepoans.

wilbur had a small pocket knife, he doubted it would do anything.

phil had potions around his waist ready, with a large sword. 

techno had what seemed to be an entire arsenal in his cloak, and his own cool-looking sword. 

and tommy himself had fire. hm. 

"tommy, stay back for now. we can do this." phil said charging ahead with techno. 

and for once, he did. but only because it was phil. 

he watched wilbur, who surprisingly was okay at fighting closely with his small blade. his eyes were red once again, and he was beating the shit out of the shortest of the six. his height must be very useful.

while phil and techno danced around each other, their blades hitting the others and the enemies. tommy saw that they always had eyes on each other rather than the person they were fighting. 

the four they were fighting looked to be seasoned fighters, or to tommy at least. but it seemed that the traps kept tripping them up. 

wait four? and wilbur had one, where was the archer?  
tommy frantically looked around. and then there it was, seven arrows flying across right above tommy in the still purple and pinky sky. their destination, straight for his friends.

and that did not fly with tommy. how dare they, such a cheap trick to run far enough from the battle. they were chicken- and that rightfully pissed tommy off. 

chickens were supposed to be eaten- because they are weak and provide well enough. that's what his mother said. 

and his mother was bitch, so this chicken needed to go. 

maybe he was supposed to stay out of battle, but he would charge headfirst into lava for his new family- er friends.

he set his hand ablaze aiming his arm straight at the fast-approaching arrows. he noticed when he was angry, his flames tend to burn that way too. 

he put his whole body into it- trying to shoot as much fire straight at the arrows. 

closing his eyes, a blind shot was always his best bet. 

and when he heard the clank and clash of swords stop, and felt ash fall upon his face- he had hit his mark.

he saw his friend's resume, with will getting a jump on his guy. but that wasn't what he was looking for. 

he turned around in the direction of the arrows. his chicken was standing right there- in the middle of the clearing. 

they started to load their bow, but tommy was a little faster. everyone would be a little faster if their friends- and their life was on the line. 

after all, if he were to die now- he would mind but at least he got the adventure he always searched for. all he had right now was the way he felt.

he aimed, looking the chicken dead in the eyes. and shot a blaze straight at him. 

dirt was whisked away in the force of the blast. 

and struck the guy head on. he fell back and his weapon seemed to burn into ash.

you'd set someone on fire for your friends, or at least tommy would. and he would do it again.

maybe after this whole fight, they could make a cool campfire with his own fire. 

but now he needed to take care of the others. 

quickly turning back around he saw that wilbur was standing over a body, while there were only three with swords still standing. 

and two of them were his friends.

he blinked, and then both their swords were put away and they were all heading his way- hoods up and cloaks drapped. 

"are you guys okay?" tommy asks, once they were in earshot. he will admit they all looked a little freaky with the hoods over their faces. 

"yeah, tommy we're good. we gotta go though." wilbur said, standing in front of tommy. without another word he tossed tommy over his shoulder and started to run after techno and phil.

"hey! wait- wilbur! put me down!" tommy yelled, not kicking wilbur but moving his arms as much as possible. 

"shut up child, we need to leave quietly before we get sniped." wilbur said as they entered the other end of the dirt clearing, which even more forests. 

they had another long walk ahead. 

* * *

vines and moss grew the most here and the best phil learned. 

he pushed away the vines and the hanging leaves to enter his little tree line. 

it was his favorite place he'd built so far. it was hidden incredibly well and was in his favorite region. although techno preferred the cold, he liked the warmer areas where he could wake up with the sun in his face. there wasn't much of that if any at all in the end. 

he walked along with the stones and pulled back his hoodie. glancing back, the other two were still with him, and a passed-out tommy. 

his little cottage carver into the side of a stone hill was in tact, and so were the wooden seats he set outside a long time ago. 

the sun was peaking back out, through the cuts in the tree's branches and it was his favorite thing. 

he remembers when he first found this place, it was one of his older homes. he calls all the homes he built before meeting techno, "old".

he opens his favorite oak door with painted glass, and steps inside. 

tossing off his own shoes before moving out of the way to hang his cloak. 

the other two filed in after him. doing the same as him. 

phil kept having to add another cloak rack after the other two arrived. 

and two new rooms for them each. it wasn't a big deal though. 

tommy was tossed onto the couch like a bean bag. they all silently placed their bags on the kitchen counter. in an order they all regularly do. phil opening the only window to let in sunlight to the living room and kitchen.

the gentleness of the morning sun making him more awake than he should have been. 

he started to make tea, all three have them had their own tastes. he wasn't sure what tommy would want. maybe something sweet.

it was silent while the other two laid on both of the small love seats in the living room, tommy hogged the whole couch in his sleep it seemed. 

the water began to wheeze, as he rolled up all their favorite tea mixes into bags. and then dropping them all into their respective cups. he cleared away some of his brewing recipes to make room for a small tray to put the tea on. 

he remembers all the nights he threw himself into work- to practice potions to forget. 

to ignore the fact he was alone, once again. after she had gone.

the light had drained from his world as the color did from her face. 

one day as he was out, getting materials- he saw the biggest bear to ever exist. 

he thinks it was some sort of forest protector, but it had been corrupted by the power of the night's creatures.

it's also what came close to ending his life. but that's when techno came into the picture.

he couldn't understand how techno was so bold, once he jumped in front of phil with the jankest sword phil had seen in all his years in battle.

but techno killed it regardless. 

it was the day phil felt himself smiling again, color returned to his face.

but enough dwelling on the past for him, the tea was getting cold.

he lifted the tray and walked across to the living room, where voices could be heard. 

"aw, does he need another little nap? did all the fire tire him out?" wilbur said in a mocking baby voice. 

tommy was now awake, sitting up at the end of the couch to glare at wilbur.

"yes it does! maybe if you had some damn fire you'd get bitches. and not look like shit!" tommy raised his voice. 

techno had his mask off for once. and his hooves were on display. "you're getting all grumpy. ya sure you don't need'a nap?" techno said, a smug look playing on his face.

tommy sputtered and his hands sparked. 

"tea is ready boys," phil said, deciding to make his grand entrance. handing it all out cup by cup.

he sat down at the other end of the couch enjoying his tea as wilbur and tommy bickered once more, it was becoming a normal occurrence. 

and it seems tommy likes himself some sweet tea too.

techno seemed to be dozing off, it was a long fight and walk for them both. 

phil looked back at tommy, maybe he should get some rest too. it seems with their new addition it would become more tiresome. but it's a price phil will forever be willing to pay.

tommy was interesting, and his firepower was amazing. phil wouldn't say that out loud though, in fear of his ego at the moment. 

he found himself smiling.

maybe phil's not too alone anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first part of this chapter is a lot older, and i hope it seems like i sort of improved LOL  
> i do have idea on where this fic is going just no motivation to write it out yikes  
> and like i feel like i write all the sleepy bois a little oc it kinda why i just jumped into writing mostly karlnap ek  
> AND THE TAGS ARE KINDA A MESS LOL
> 
> but now i have a bunch of school work to catch up on lol
> 
> have a good night or day :)


	4. fight for those you love while the night is still young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tommy is taught how to fight and then given a surprise he didn’t expect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayup...
> 
> notice the new tags?? :D
> 
> another update!! i feel like i’m just taking a break and messing around with this book and honestly it’s kinda fun :) but i am extremely tired so there are probably so many mistakes this time around
> 
> also this chapter is super long lmao haven’t a clue why

techno didn't hate fighting, especially when he did it with phil.

he sees violence and the clash of swords more like a dance and an art form in all seriousness.

but the people of his old town didn't see it that way.

their king, taught the people to draw their sword for fun, or when you're angry. 

but really you were only supposed to if you were human. 

halfings were hung if they were even to glare daggers at a human. 

but humans were allowed to do as they please cutting without a path and splicing hope into pieces for fun. 

techno didn't like that, he didn't like the king. 

so once he beheaded the man during a carefully crafted plan, dead in the night he ran. 

his sword a hand me down and a few of his special belongings.

then he remembers phil, and that's that. 

he watches tommy punch the tree, setting his hands ablaze with each punch before putting them out again.

if fighting was truly a dance, tommy was doing a sloppy job. 

his posture was horrible. he could easily be swept off his feet and straight to the ground.

or his hand taken and thrown behind his own back with a few simple movements. 

not that techno cared how he fought- not at all. he didn't see himself in tommy at all.

it was just annoying how he treated fighting like a game. yeah that was it. 

he strutted over from the oak doorway and outside of the cottage. 

he was just going to teach him a little just like he did wilbur, and maybe the kid could be able to walk in a forest without setting it on fire. 

but tommy isn't like wilbur, he can actually use his halfing advantages. 

while wilbur is a ghast, he sure can scream. and is quite the easy crier. 

the problem is when he screams, it hurts everyone's ears. not just the enemies- so they decided to only use it as a last resort. 

he also says that he can shoot a fire ball from his mouth, but doesn't use it because it hurts his throat apparently. 

wilbur was also quite stubborn while learning to fight, only really wanting to use his dagger and throwing a knife. 

and wilbur's attachment to his dagger was always strange, he's had it since he and phil bailed him out of jail. without using money. 

techno remembers walking past his cell, then phil stopping by. asking wilbur why he was in there in the first place- he was the only one in the whole building. 

he told them both he was thrown in for being- he quotes,"a flithy hybrid,"

techno cut the thin bars apart after phil's word, and they blew the small village swiftly. 

but wilbur's not tommy, and tommy is not wilbur. 

techno stood behind tommy, getting a closer look at his posture.

it was proper shit, and techno should probably start to say something. 

"keep your feet grounded, and in one place. you keep hopping like a small rabbit." techno says, pulling his mask above his head. 

tommy turned around, it seemed he didn't even notice techno until he spoke. "are you tryna' tell me what to do?" tommy said. 

techno sighed, "no, just givin' you a chance. here, just try to punch me." techno said pulling his arms up into a fighting stance.

tommy blinked at him a few times in confusion, before having the worst grin on his face- or that's what techno classified it as. 

tommy threw a punch, it seemed he was keeping his feet still this time. but his fist didn't seem to have a straight path- it was on fire so techno assuming that he was just throwing it out hoping to hit with fire or himself. 

techno hit his punch away with ease, a was only hurt by the small flame his punch gave. 

tommy stood his ground and tried again, doing the same thing just with the other hand. 

techno did the same. he could see some sort of determination in the kid's eyes. 

tommy tried a punch again but made the mistake of stepping forward with his punch. 

techno used his hoof to sweep the other foot off the ground, landing tommy on his back. 

"your punches are unfocused. although your fire is trained pretty well.- don't let that go to your head though." techno said, helping him back up. 

one of techno's greatest strengths was his piglin instincts and endurance. but it seemed what affects tommy the most was his mood.

"whatever, a punch is a punch." tommy said, smiling and setting his stance back up.

"try focusing on punching my face instead." techno says, readying up. 

"your ugly face," tommy adds. 

techno sighs, feeling exposed without his mask. "yes, that thing. hit it." 

and so tommy does, with considerably better aim. techno still blocks it, just not with the same amount of ease.

he was about to pause and tell tommy he did a great job but tommy threw another punch. 

techno didn't see it coming but was still able to block. it was just hard whenever a burst of flame hit your eyes. 

he let tommy go on, waiting until he moves his feet around that's when techno would stop. 

but he never got to since wilbur yelled- a little too loud for his piglin ears might he add. wilbur was jogging up to the other two. 

tommy only stopped when wilbur was close, at least he doesn't get distracted to easily. 

"tommy, tie your hair back for prime's sake. you're gonna set it on fire." wilbur said, pulling out a band and yanking the lanky boy over, and starting to put his hair pack. 

"you bitch, ow- that hurts more than techno sweeping me. and i'm immune to my own fire!" tommy struggled, but not well enough. 

"it still helps, your hair is a weak point if someone yanks it." techno pulled his mask down.

"but your hair is long and braided 'n shit." tommy held still for once. 

"yeah and it's out of my face, mind you. i fight with a sword. not my fists." 

wilbur laughs. "yeah toms, you got a pretty fierce punch." 

"and you got better at aiming them just now too," techno adds. 

"do ya think you can teach me how to set fire easier?" tommy asks leaning on wilbur after he was finished with his hair. 

"probably with training. your flames only seem to actually increase when your fightin' an enemy. like when you shot that big fireball the other night," techno says. 

tommy smiles and readys himself back up after his words. "i'll just pretend your an enemy." 

wilbur shakes his head and heads to a nearby tree to watch and sit under. 

"alrighty, then who are you fighting for?" techno saying prepared for the first punch. 

tommy doesnt answer, he only strikes- this time more of his arm is consumed by his flames. tommy is a quick learner it seems. 

techno blocks and this time punches back, hitting tommy's arm dead on. 

"focus on me, and the reason your fighting only." techno says, avoiding a punch from tommy- who has a frown placed on his face now. 

"i'm fightin' so i don't die. i'm fightin' so they don't die." tommy answers, throwing two quick hits in a row- they were less coordinated. but the burn hurt a lot more. 

"give it your all then, don't you want them to live?" techno says, landing another hit on tommy's other arm. he was trying to avoid any real damage. 

"i'm not letting them leave me so easily- not again." tommy says- with the most fire power yet. techno was almost sure it left a small burn on his arm.

techno pieces it together as tommy throws another one. he's fighting for the four of them. 

"you shouldn't be fighting, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared to fight." techno says, deciding not to punch this time he has an opening.

"as long as i got fire power i'll be fighting- you bitch." tommy says stepping back and in a quick second his entire arm and shoulder are only a huge blaze.

techno can't even tell if it's a punch. he hand to cover his own face with his arms- he feels the fire power hit him in a quick second, and it did actually hurt a good amount. his hooves are no longer gripping the ground as tight. 

as soon as it was over, he felt his braid hit his own back after being throwback in the burst. he uncovered his face to see a shocked tommy. techno though the kid had hurt himself after that. he pulled his pig mask up and quickly stepped forward. 

"are you okay?" techno says, you couldn't tell that there was urgency in his monotone voice unless you knew techno for long enough. and those that have- most of them are dead aside from phil and wilbur.

"what the fuck!" tommy shouts, and he smiles once again. "i just did that!" tommy yells looking back and techno. 

techno feels himself smile in a moment of weakness. "yeah, now we should stop before we set phil's favorite place on fire." 

tommy nods, staring at his own hands with the dumbest grin.

wilbur runs up behind them both.

"tommy! you almost turned the blade into porkchops!" wilbur coos. 

tommy takes out his tiny ponytail. "you bet i did!" he turns back to wilbur, his whole face leaking with pride. 

"don't encourage him wil," techno says crossing his arms. 

"you're just mad tommy landed a hit on you." wilbur said messing up tommy's hair. 

techno shook his head. "he didn't technically touch me, just his fire." techno lifts his arms off to show off the small burns.

tommy looks at his arms in genuine concern for a second. "i didn't hurt you did i?" he asks, and techno wants to puke at the guilty little look he has. 

"no, not at all. the blood god does not bleed, he takes the blood and feels nothing." 

wilbur points back at his arms with a smirk. "it seems this one does." 

techno pulls his arms back, and it seems his burns are starting to bleed a little.

"phillll!! techno is bleeding out!" tommy yells, and in an instant, phil scrambled out the front door with one too many potions and a couple of rolls of bandages. 

techno face plants and wilbur is laughing a little too hard. 

phil quickly notices that techno, in fact, is not bleeding out. 

"tommy, don't lie. it gets you nowhere- well it only does if you do it right." phil says, taking techno's arm and placing whatever mixture on it. 

tommy smiles. "lying has got me everywhere in life, it's cause i'm so good at it." 

techno rolls his eyes. 

wilbur has finally calmed down. "yeah, sure. but techno got this sick burns from this little fire gremiln." he explains, and phil only nods. 

"that explains why i heard shouting, and no more fire around the house." phil saying applying the first rap of goz. 

"well were leaving tomorrow right? so no issue there." tommy asks.

without breaking his focus, phil answers, "yeah, i've got this place to show you and wilbur. it will take a little to get too. that's why i brought us here first." 

techno huffs, knowing exactly where they're going.

"i still don't know why you won't tell me, i mean i'm the one who holds the map." wilbur complains. 

"it's a surprise." phil says, picking back up his supplies. 

tommy starts to walk back to the house with his arms supporting his neck. "too tired to care right now. 'm gonna need a couple hours too recover from being to cool." 

"you mean it's your nap time?" wilbur says walking after him. 

techno and phil follow behind, "i do not have a nap time. my fire just takes too much of my power." tommy says, a little aggressive.

"nap time is for losers, but i need one after all that fire hit my face." techno streches his arms while he walks along side phil.

wilbur only laughed at him both. "this is why i don't train anymore." 

"actually, you would whine to me after techno beat the crap outta you. after you told him to try his hardest might i add." phil says without a thought. 

it was tommy's turn to laugh at him. "i bet you couldn't even hit him." tommy saying opeing the front door. 

wilbur makes some sort of grunt of frustration before manhandling tommy, and then techno. for someone so lanky, wilbur sure could carry his own weight. 

phil smiled shutting the door behind them all while wilbur body slammed tommy and then techno into the couch and love seats. tommy was cursing him out while techno didn't even fight back. 

techno got himself comfortable in the love seat, letting his hooves extend out of chair's arm and tossing his mask somewhere else. 

he felt the healing potion start to make him even more tired. although he didn't sleep too often techno would cherished whenever he could. 

as tommys and wilburs light bickering turned into background noise he yawned and let himself close his eyes.

yeah, all four of them were worth fighting for. 

* * *

wilbur was gonna start screaming. 

sure he's gotta attached to the lil gremlin but that doesn't mean he wouldnt hesitate to send him back to the motherland of the netherworld.

and right now he was so close, they had been traveling for almost a week now. and wilbur hadn't slept to well last night. mostly because he took a watch, techno looked dead tired as usual so he forced him to get some sleep while he's been up for a good 36 hours by now. 

he'd been begged phil for a nap, but they were in a dangerous open area so that was a no-go. and phil told him they were close to their destination.

not like wilbur even knew what it was since phil still hadn't told him. 

he couldn't even be carried since they all were shorter and couldn't just throw him over the shoulder as he does. 

and tommy, oh tommy. 

would not stop clicking his tongue.

and it was almost like nobody else noticed it. because he seemed to be the only one losing his shit. 

it was mid-day by now and he could finally see a small forest area up ahead. so they could take cover. he just needed to tough it out.

but did he really want to? no. 

he just tried to ignore anything and everything and focus on his steps. and not the clicking. 

but as fate would have it, around three shitty-looking adventures came straight out of the forest. 

and they did not look happy. 

he watched phil walk more to the left leading the four trying to avoid the adventurer's path. but when they turned the same way. wilbur knew something bad was going to happen when they started to pull out their swords.

they looked human, so that made it worse. he really didn't understand humans having the need to beat the shit out of anything different from them. 

they stopped only seven feet ahead of phil.

they were staring him down, it seemed like they were challenging them without reason. 

now phil on his own wasn't that scary, nor was tommy. techno and himself were intimidating and tall so that usually kept people away. 

but wilbur guesses the adventurers needed some pride, or let out some anger because the one on the right charged phil. humans are crazy, going for the old and the young. 

well, at least tommy stopped clicking. 

but these stupid adventurers were going to make them fight, as a result making wilbur wait even longer to take a damn nap. 

he wasn't sure how they got the idea that they could take four on three. 

oh, he was going to scream. 

he quickly stepped in front of phil, the knight with the sword didn't stop.

and wilbur now remembers why humans take their anger out on things because decking a knight has never felt better. the guy was short and easy to hit. 

"cover your ears guys," is all the warning he gave, he watched techno and phil do it instantly- and impatiently waited on tommy while he had his few seconds of confusion before covering. 

he heard phil take quick steps back as the adventurer on the ground started to get up. 

wilbur took in a big breath of fresh air, just like he was about to sing.

he let out the worst ear-piercing scream, it was shrill and it sounded like some sort of cry of pain from a dimension that was not theirs. because it was. 

wilbur only stopped when he saw the adventurers dropped their weapons and covered their ears. and cowardly got to the ground. 

wilbur smiled, yeah he felt a lot better. still tired. 

the adventurer in front of him was curled up covering his ears, he simply stepped over him. 

it was nap time for wilbur now. although he made fun of techno and tommy taking them- he knows how important they are now. 

the rest of the party followed him, techno making sure to use his string traps to make sure they didn't follow them. 

"wilbur i didn't know you could do that?! your eyes turned red 'n shit. and your face went pale as fuck!" tommy said as they out of earshot.

wilbur only nodded.

"is that why you're so good at singing. mans got extra vocal cords or somethin." tommy said breaking a low branch off a tree. 

"i don't think that's how it works toms," phil looks at tommy with a confused smile.

"i dunno, but whatever it is- sure as hell hurts my ears." techno pulls up his hood.

tommy only laughed at him.

once they were in the cover of a deep forest wilbur collapsed. 

* * *

once wilbur passed out they all decided to take a break, and phil said they would be there by nightfall anyway.

he laid against wilbur shoulder since it was the only one he could. and he wanted to be there when wilbur woke up. 

since phil was writing something while techno was reading something, they were silent. 

he learned they enjoyed the company more when it was quiet. he knew they didn't hate it when he talked, but enjoyed it a little more just to be in his presence.'casue that's just how cool he was. or atleast phil enjoyed it. techno was tough to tell. 

tommy's thoughts were sidetracked whenever wilbur shifted and let out a groan. wilbur moved forward causing tommy to fall off of him and onto the forest's floor. 

he was about to start cursing willbur out, but phil got to him first. 

"you ready to go wills?" phil asked, putting anyway his things. techno followed suit. 

wilbur nodded and stood up, and tommy got tired of being on the floor so he did too. brushing off the dirt. 

"how long was i out?" wilbur asks, stretching out his freakishly long arms. tommy wonders where he got them.

techno throws his bag on. "about, i'd say five hours. since the sun is setting." 

"good enough," wilbur says as phil starts headed back in the direction they were going.

"philllll, are we almost there?" tommy whined once they all started walking. 

"yep mate, we should reach it by nightfall." phil answered. 

tommy only growled, techno cracked a smile at it. but that was the only conversation they had until they were out of the forest.

and once they were, it was surely night. 

see, once they were out of the other end of the forest- there was a big building. and a few smaller ones making a semblance of a small village. 

but it didn't look like a regular one, the buildings were all different from the ones around the region. 

taller and there were strange lamps that lit up the area. 

as they approached the path made by the village tommy saw more halfings than he could count. 

all of them so different and just as strange as him. 

although some looked fairly human-like himself, others were basically mutants. like ones from stories his mother used to tell him. but they weren't scary. 

but he stops walking along when phil was stopped by another hybrid, they looked upset.

"are you guys humans? if so you need to turn right back around." 

tommy was surprised they didn't see the obvious hooves techno had for feet. 

he watched phil smiled and take off his cloak, seeing the same dark-purple almost black wings.

tommy hadn't seen them in a while, he had almost forgotten about them. the more he stared, it looked like a whole mini-universe inside of them. 

the guy apologized and phil only shook his head while putting back on his cloak. 

phil lead them through the town, tommy was just wondering how all these people have been living without humans attacking them.

phil stopped in front of what tommy guessed was a tavern, he could hear all the drunken singing from outside. well, the night was young. 

"i've got a few friends who work here, so try not to pull anything. i'm looking at wilbur and tommy. but you can still enjoy yourselves. i let them know we were coming in advance since i wanted to show you two around." phil finishes with a proud smile. 

"so you brought us to a tavern?" wilbur asks, he didn't seem to be complaining though.

"yeah mate, the food's amazing and we can finally shop without hiding." phil pushed open the big doors of the tavern and they all went inside.

* * *

the lights were kind of bright inside.

tommy noticed that the tavern wasn't packed or too empty much like normal ones.

there were all kinds of weird chairs though, probably for everyone. 

and it seemed there were a bunch of different halfings scattered around. he first caught the guys singing on the stage with bright yellow wings. there were around three drunks singing along. 

and then he saw someone around his age- who also had the biggest horns he'd ever seen. with two big ears to match. with hooves for feet, but his legs were normal. 

phil started towards somewhere. tommy didn't like being far away from phil- so he followed him to the bar area and stopped staring.

"hello sam! how have you been?" phil asks the bartender with a funky gold mask. 

the sam guy pulls off his mask. his face is littered with all sorts of greens and white. one of his eyes is jet black with a white pupil too. he waves. "i've been good. i'm glad you could make it. would you like your usual?" he asks.

phil nods. "but before i would like you to meet two people first if you don't mind mate?" 

"sure i don't see why not, i'm pretty sure ranboo can cover whoever else comes in." the guy puts his mask away on another counter holding all sorts of drinks.

phil turns and motions to tommy to step forward, and he does. 

sure tommy is a little nervous but he doesn't wanna make phil upset so he waves and tries to be as confident as possible. "hey there, i'm tommy, nice to met ya." he debated telling sam that he was a blaze halfing.

sam only smiles brighter. "hello! i'm sam. i own this place." he gestures to the shelf filled with drinks behind him. 

"me and sam go way back, he has sons he adopted." phil says to tommy.

tommy only nods in understanding. 

sam looks behind phil. "so where's the other person?"

phil turns around and looks around. "ah, he's run off with techno. i'm sure you'll see him up on stage out of his mind later. so apologies in advance." 

sam waves him off. "no trouble, he sounds pretty fun anyway." 

and then same and phil start talking all werid- like adults. so tommy tunes them out and finally gets brave enough to leave phil's side. 

he looks for the ram kid, it might be best if he finds someone around his age. tommy was tired of being the child for once. 

he goes to the corner to scope the ram out, and it takes about twenty minutes before he spots him again. 

either tommy was blind or he just didn't see the guy setting down by the sides of the stairs leading up to the rooms. 

ready to socialize he head straight to the boy, and walks across the tavern to him. 

once he's close enough, he notices' the boys actually dosing off. tommy finds himself ticked off as he slides against the same stairs to sit next to him. 

well, at least he can show off his fire tomorrow without being snatched up.

he can see wilbur and techno, it seems wilbur has had a few drinks and techno was supervising.

it had been only a minute before he felt something hit his shoulder. he looks over and to his horror the little ram has decided to use his shoulder as a pillow. he curses under his breath.

tommy would've let him stay there if the boy's horn wasn't stabbing him to death. 

after a painful minute, he decided to move the boy off himself. 

he didn't know the best course of action. he awkwardly grabbed his horn to move him off.

it was going well- until the ram woke up.

tommy quickly let go of his horn as the boy shot up. he started screaming and so did tommy. he wasn't sure what they were afraid of.

thankfully nobody really noticed the screams either they were to drunk or were to loud themselves. 

after a second the ram stopped and frowned at tommy. "you do not touch a man's horn without permission." he says sternly, now holding his horn protectively.

tommy sputters. "well you're the one whole started stabbing me with it while you were snoozin' away." tommy pointed an accusing finger, this is not how he thought their interaction would go. 

the guy blinks for a second, most of his anger draining from his face. he looked like he was thinking. 

and tommy didn't know why he found this funny, but he did. tommy had been around wilbur too much.

the guy looked at him puzzled before cracking a smile himself. "i'm tubbo by the way." he says after tommy is only reduced to giggles. 

"i'm tommy." he says with actual confidence. 

"why brings you to this fine establishment?" tubbo asks standing up and brushing off his messed-up buttoned shirt.

tommy stood up, now towering over him. he almost wants to laugh again. "i was brought here with my friends, we wander around 'n stuff." 

"i've always wanted to do that. so many things to see. so little time." tubbo says almost cryptically. tommy laughs.

tubbo smiles. "can i show you somewhere? without all these drunks around." tubbo gestures to the rest of the tavern like sam did.

tommy shrugged. "lead the way, big man." 

and so he did and down to a cellar they went. at first, tommy was a little scared. but considering how small tubbo was he thinks he could take the ram. 

tubbo shuts the trap door the way they got in, and slides down the latter. "this is where i usually hang around if the tavern gets too loud." 

"do you live at the tavern?" tommy asks glancing at all the storage and barrels.

tubbo nods. "sort of, i have a house but i usually hang around here because of sam." 

tommy makes the connection in his head. "are one of sam's sons?" he asks with an eyebrow raised. 

tubbo nods again with a smile. "yep! he found me in a box!"

"tubbox," tommy says it being the first thing that came to mind, and tubbo doubles over laughing. 

after he lets tubbo recollects himself, tommy asks another question. "what kind of halfing are you?" 

tubbo wonders over to a shelf. "i'm a ram, but sometimes people call me a goat." 

tommy giggles cruelly at that. "i'm a blaze born," he says filled with pride. 

"you don't look the part," tubbo says simply. 

"am too! just watch this tubbo-" tommy waits until tubbo is looking, and then sets off the biggest flame he can make without setting anything on fire. 

tubbo looks amazed and just stares at tommy. it boosts his ego a good amount. 

"how does it work? like how do you do that?" tubbo walks over and takes tommy's arm with curiosity. 

tommy shrugs. "i just, boom. y'know?" 

tubbo shakes his head, it seems he likes to do that a lot. "no i don't know actactually."

tommy rolls his eyes. "well it is cool and that's all that matters." 

tubbo lets go of his arm and rolled his eyes right back at tommy. "do ya think you could burn a forest?" 

tommy smiles, "why don't we try?" 

tubbo grins back, before frowning. "nevermind. sam would not be happy." 

tommy almost starts to tremble at thought of techno, wilbur, and phil being mad at him. "yeah maybe not today big man," 

they continue to speak about things, telling each other short stories until they have to start manually breathe. 

up until the trap door creeks, tommy thinks it might be sam or phil looking for them. but tubbo runs up to the trap door's ladder. 

"ranboo! hurry up you tall bastard!" tubbo yells at the person above, and slowly extremely long legs start stepping down. 

it almost seems never-ending, but the person- ranboo finally is down all the way. his head is only an inch away from the ceiling. he is a couple of inches taller than ranboo. it looks like a mile difference to tommy. it hurts his confidence a little bit, must be what tubbo feels like. 

ranboo's skin is white and black with hair that is split too. he really looks like a halfing- the red and green eyes top it off too.

tubbo is the first to speak, "ranboo, this is tommy. he is my best friend!" tommy doesn't correct him. "you're..clingy." tommy says, he does not like this embarrassing feeling.

"i thought i was your best friend?" ranboo says looking down at tubbo with a frown. tubbo only shrugs, "you can share." 

ranboo sighs and looks back at tommy. "h-hello." the ranboo guy seems shy, and he keeps playing with his hands.

tommy waves. "not to be rude, but what exactly are you?"

before ranboo answers, tubbo goes first. "he's an enderman thing! neat isn't it?" 

ranboo laughs a little. "you're hyping it up way do much." he says. 

tubbo crosses his arms. "well you would think anything is cool if you got a head of horns too." 

"i think your horns are like, big knives so." tommy adds. 

"yeah they're cool!" ranboo agrees. 

tubbo touches the tip of one of his horns. "i mean, they just need a little sharping." 

"let's sharpen them then!" tommy says, looking for something to do just that.

ranboo loses his words for a second, no longer shy but worried. "wait wait, how about we don't do that??" he watched tubbo help in tommy's search for a knife. 

"ranboo we are too powerful, there is no stopping it. this is destiny!" tubbo exclaims. 

tommy laughs. "yeah bitch boy, we are writing our own fates!" tommy knocks a couple of wooden blocks down. "can i call you that?" tommy asks ranboo. 

"yes-wait no you cannot, my name is ranboo."

"more like ranboob," tubbo says giggling like a menace. 

"yeah well!- i'll get sam to rewrite your fate tubbo!" ranboo sounds offended. and tubbo turns to look at him.

"fine, we won't sharpen my horns- yet." tubbo says, faking being actually upset. 

ranboo knows his tricks and isn't fooled. 

"yet tubbo, density still waits." tommy adds, setting up a barrel as a chair. 

"more like never, you could end up cutting them off!" ranboo says more apprehensive this time. 

tommy shakes his head. "my middle name is careful, i could make his horns look sick with minimal damage." 

"minimal damage woo!" tubbo says. ranboo signs once again and sinks down. 

tubbo notices and walks over, head butting the enderman in the stomach. 

ranboo smiles again and messes with his hair. 

tommy watches this, all the while quite jealous. "why would you even headbutt him?" tommy asks, a little curious but mostly mad.

"it's how i show affection." tubbo says, ramming his head back into a ranboo, a lot harder this time. 

"yeah, and it's not always super calming." ranboo says as he holds his stomach. 

tommy laughs at him. tubbo smiles back at tommy. "did you want one?" 

"you bet i do." tommy stands back up and tubbo charges him. 

they run straight into a couple of crates, it hurts like shit but all three of them are laughing.

it stays like that for an hour with only a few broken things, before sam comes down and tells them to head to bed considering it is probably the am's by now.

they all go to the respective rooms, except once tommy finds him- wilbur is singing about a fish and techno is dead asleep.

so tommy gets harassed for about an hour with a drunk wilbur before he passes out.

although he will admit it was fun getting man handled, it tired him out.

but for some reason, as he lays in bed he can't seem to sleep. and it's starting to hurt. 

maybe it was because the room smelled strongly of alcohol or the fact techno snores like boar. but he decided to leave with a blanket and sit out in the hall. hopefully, they're the only people staying at the tavern for tonight. 

he sits by the window looking at all the stars, the village lights were put out by now. 

tommy decides to reflect like usually does once he can't sleep.

he wonders where phil is, only a little worried about him. not because he was his father figure. nope. 

that lead his thoughts back to the boys he met tonight though. 

he's really going to miss tubbo and ranboo. maybe even a little too much.

damn him and his attachments.

it might be selfish but he wants them both just to travel with them and phil.

and as lucky might have it, he hears someone stalking down the hall. 

a very tall person and he knows exactly who it is as they slide down on the other side of the wall across from tommy. 

ranboo's eyes glow in the dark. and he whispers. "can't sleep?" 

tommy shakes his head and whispers back. "no, not really. you?" 

"i don't need sleep, just-food. y'know enderman and all." ranboo says. 

tommy tightens the blanket around him. "you're lucky,"

ranboo shakes his head. "most people find it creepy. what exactly are you anyway?"

"blaze born, i can shoot fire 'n shit." tommy yawns after whispering. 

it is silent for a moment as they both decide to stare out the window. 

it is only loud again when tommy hears hooves down the hall, and he can easily tell the shadow of the ears the person has.

tubbo joins them, sitting next to ranboo. 

"welcome tubbo," tommy greets in a whisper. 

"why are we whispering?" tubbo asks, he seems very sleepy.

"cause people are asleep tubbo." ranboo says looking back down at him.

"how did you find us tubbo?" tommy asks. 

tubbo shrugs. "ranboos presences left and i woke up i guess. then i followed the sounds i heard." tubbo whispers. 

they all stay silent for a moment. before tommy decides to ask something of them both. 

"would you guys like to adventure with me and my party?" tommy watches them both for reactions. 

ranboos eyes winden in the dark. tubbo sat up, a little more awake now. 

"i would love too," tubbo said in a whisper-like voice. without actually whispering. 

ranboo shushed him. "we would have to see what sam says." 

tommy felt himself give another big smile, like the day phil let him travel with their group.

"well ranboo do you want to go?" tommy asks. 

ranboo is quiet for a second. "it's density i guess."

tubbo motions for tommy to come over. "we can think about density in the morning. i want to sleep now. tommy get over here and give me your blanket.

tommy rolls his eyes in the dark and crawls over anyway. 

he lets tubbo take some of his blanket and lean against him, this time not stabbing him. 

tommy smiles smugly at ranboo since tubbo choose him, ranboo doesn't seem to mind as he looks out the window.

tommy yawns again, maybe he does need some sleep too. ranboo can just keep watch. 

tommy closes his eyes, for once he doesn't mind someone being clingy. it's hard too when you've been playing the clingy one your whole life. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope u enjoyed this- i am like so tired but was having too much to stop writing apologies for any characters being to oc 
> 
> the spacing for the lines are also different from usual and i’m to tired to go back and manually space all that out right now- sorry akskskmaxc
> 
> also there might be a few inconsistencies in this and the next chapter because of the long break i took while writing oomf...
> 
> if you have any questions or just wanna talk abt block men my twitter is: @aliensluvu
> 
> anyway have a good night or day! :)


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